My name is Raheem Nelson—Ra for short—and my medium is iPad art.
My love of drawing started when I was 5. My parents drew for me and at 7, I started doing it for myself and drawing, like, The Ninja Turtles. Eventually I got my confidence up and started drawing my own comic books. I love the discipline and process of making a comic book: writing, inking, coloring duties. I took it upon myself to do all those roles, and be a multifaceted artist from a young age.
I use Flipboard to keep me inspired and educated when it comes to the art world, to teach myself how the art market works through research, and by staying up-to-date on the intersection of the art and tech worlds. I love to read IGN, Artnet, and ArtBusiness.com—it’s very educational and helpful for artists who don’t want to deal with day-to-day business dealings.
Flipboard is also great as a portfolio because I don’t have to be in the same room as someone—they can just flip, flip, flip through different pieces of mine.
People that inspire me are David Kassan and Jorge Colombo—David dabbles in iPad art, and Jorge creates art on his iPhone, and does covers for the New Yorker on his iPad. I feel extremely lucky to have them as mentors.
A big influence is Austin Kleon. His book “Steal Like An Artist” was life-changing for me. I teach my students that, too. It’s OK to be influenced. We’re all remixes of our influences.
Whenever I say I am from Brazil, I usually get a big smile and comments about soccer and the country’s beautiful beaches. The friendly attitude of many Brazilians and the amazing landscapes of South America’s largest and only Portuguese-speaking country are well known.
But Brazil has many facets that go beyond carnival, samba and futbol.
You can’t define a place with a single broad stroke, and this is especially true for Brazil. With its paradisiac beaches, delicious food, creative music, infamous favelas and deep social problems, Brazil is a country of striking contrasts. It has a vast supply of natural resources, yet suffers with poverty and social inequality. It has a sophisticated business sector and a large consumer market, but it lags behind in global education and infrastructure. It’s an enormous country with searing heat in the north to snow in the south, and amazes visitors with the modernity of its megacities and the wilderness of its Amazon rainforest.
After over a decade living in the U.S., there are things I miss about Brazil: the solidarity, sensuality, joy and openness that are hallmarks of its people. But I’m glad that my job as a Flipboard curator allows me to keep in touch with Brazil’s culture and readers. Here are some magazines that remind me of home:
Brazil-Brasil-Brasile-Brésil-Brasilien by Bia Valle: Facts, figures and fun about Brazil.
Oh Brazil! by Bibi Voyles: News and insights on Brazil.
Travel Diary Brazil by Flipboard Photo Desk Presented By Microsoft: Photo essays created during the World Cup, documenting the many faces and places in the country.
Graffiti, Street Art & Mural Brazil by RedeFric: Brazilian creativity stamped in the streets.
Awesome Capoeira by Gloria Lin: The beauty and flow of Brazilian dance-fighting.
Travel Brazil by Tony Galvez: News, info and travel tips.
To learn more about Flipboard’s Brazilian community, check out our Inside Flipboard Brasil blog, follow @Flipboard_BR on Twitter and our Flipboard Brasil page on Facebook. (That’s right: for ultimate authenticity, Brasil is written with an “s” in Portuguese.)
~CarolF is curating “Brasil”
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Every time I look at a Flipboard magazine from Japan, I feel I transported back to my country, which I left in 2005 to become a freelance editor. I’ve since found my way to Palo Alto, California, where I now work as Flipboard’s Japanese curator and international coordinator. Of course, there are parts of Japan I don’t miss—the bureaucracy, packed subways and never-ending work hours. But these magazines remind me of some of my country’s best things, such as people’s generosity and cooperation, the great food and peaceful neighborhoods.
My favorite Japanese magazines on Flipboard include the ones into which the curator flips personal photos that offer a glimpse into Tokyo life . Take a look:
きちでんせいけんフォトライフ by きちでんせいけん: This collection of street photography was taken by an artist in Tokyo. While the photos are all recent, the colors and lights make me nostalgic.
世界を旅する写真 by sawaflip : Travel lover sawaflip took Instagram photographs throughout the world and created a Flipboard magazine with them. These beautiful pictures feel like a coffee table book in a magazine layout.
シロの休日 by u7046 : The main character of this peaceful magazine is a fluffy cat named “Shiro,” (“white” in Japanese) who likes to walk around the neighborhood.
LIFE WITH CATS by enjoynews: Also featuring cats, this magazine captures the daily life of two felines who live with this curator.
コップのフチ子 by chimateer: This magazine gathers photos of a small, popular figure in Japan called “Cup no Fuchi-ko,” a little toy girl meant to sit on the edge of a cup. Photos of this figure in various scenes have been going viral in Japan, so user chimatter collected them into this magazine.
~YasukoK is reading “クロの休日 (Kuro’s holiday) ”
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Last week we asked you to submit your favorite covers to us and the response has been great! Here are some of the top submissions from last week.
To see more covers, we also have a Flickr group for covers and our Facebook Fan Page has a lot of covers now, too. To learn how to take and send a cover, see this post.
Please keep the fantastic covers coming!
Cheers,
~ JonV
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One thing we absolutely love about Flipboard is seeing all the different covers people create with it. We share ours with each other in the office all the time. Even better, we are seeing people in the community sharing their covers with each other, and this is great!
Here’s a simply fantastic example:
Isn’t that just beautiful?
This cover was captured by a friend, in his Flipboard, from his friend’s feed. It was posted by @leecraven and the image originally belongs to @undomesticdiva . When I contacted her for permission to reuse the photo, she mentioned she is a photographer. If you would like to see more of her photos, or if you are in need of a photographer’s services in Southern Califormia, here is her site: meganhookphotography.com
Please feel not just free to send us your cover images, but feel encouraged to do so! You can post them to our Facebook page, Tweet them to @flipboard, or email them to me directly.
We love seeing them and you may find your cover featured on Inside Flipboard.
Hope you’re having a terrific week, Flipsters!
~ JonV
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We are honored to be immortalized in the most important of all the editorial arts: the cartoon!
Thanks to cartoonist Phil Johnson and NPR All Tech Considered for permission to share this with you.  Remember, you can add NPR Shows to your Flipboard by selecting “Add a Section†then look in the category “News.â€
We are always looking to spotlight interesting things from around the Flipboard Community. If you have great Flipboard covers, cool screen shots, or an interesting story about how you use Flipboard, please share them with us.
You could be “Inside Flipboard.”
Cheers,
~ JonV
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An innovator in his field, and hugely influential to generations of musicians, David Bowie kept up his enigmatic persona until the end, shielding his 18 month battle with cancer from the media spotlight until his death on Sunday.
Known for his regular reinvention, Bowie evolved through a variety of music genres during his five decades of success. With help from his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, he catapulted himself to fame during the 70’s glam-rock era before moving into self-titled “plastic soul” and then onto making waves in electronic music.
His latest album “Blackstar,” released last week on the artist’s 69th birthday, was received with surprise but high acclaim. Following his death, speculation surrounded his track Lazarus—with the suggestion that it had been penned as a farewell piece—but further reports stated Bowie also had plans to record another album.
While known across the world for his music, Bowie’s style went hand-in-hand to make his star quality complete. Renowned for his strong fashion influence, he pushed boundaries of gender and regularly re-invented his look.
Bowie also found success in acting–with parts on TV shows, movies and on stage. He recently co-wrote the musical Lazarus with Irish playwright Enda Walsh, which continues to run following his death.
As news broke Thursday that Bowie had been secretly cremated, at his own request, he continued to show the world that he was anything but predictable.
Fans across the globe, including celebrities Lorde and Madonna shared their messages of grief following the official announcement of his passing. A memorial concert will be held at New York’s Carnegie Hall in March to honor the star.
Join us in remembering David Bowie, a trailblazer in every cultural field, via these Flipboard Magazines.
David Bowie remembered by The Guardian: A collection of Guardian stories charting Bowie’s life and work across the decades.
Vinyl Rocks by timagee: This mag maker remembers Bowie through his songs and the musicians with whom he collaborated.
Books, Film, TV & Music by Rick Timmer: Track Bowie’s influence in film, literature and more.
Street STYLE | Urban THINKING by David Grandison: Explore Bowie’s style history through some of his top looks over the past five decades.
David Bowie: The Legendary Musical Icon by Roslynn Kemp: Remember Bowie the musician, the icon, the style maven, the trailblazer and the actor in this wide-ranging magazine.
Soundwaves by Erik Steigen: Find out more about the man behind the music with viewpoints from those who knew him well.
~JessE is reading Music (UK) topic
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Every Monday, we put the spotlight on a wonderful curator in our MagMaker blog. We ask them to share insights about their media diets and habits, both on and off Flipboard. In doing so, we also learn about what makes them tick.
At the end of each post, we ask for a special productivity tip. And we’ve been pleasantly surprised: besides being well-informed and hyperconnected, our readers are an exceptionally efficient bunch.
In case you didn’t make a New Year’s resolution, follow these super simple, practical productivity tips to kick 2016 into gear. Enjoy!
1. Find space
“Doing something that has nothing to do with the task at hand. In some cases, the times I’ve been most productive are the times I’m wandering around a mall or went driving somewhere. The morning is also an inspirational time for me. I’ve realized that I usually don’t physically say a word until I get into work. It creates a space for internal thoughts.”—Nick Sickelton, Art Director
2. Go wander
“Step away. I know that sounds odd, but it works really well for me. Productivity is very similar (in my mind) to creativity. I’ve found that forcing either one becomes counterproductive. So, when I find myself struggling, I’ll stand up and walk away from what I’m working on. Taking a quick walk around SoHo clears my mind and once I return to work, the productivity flows.”—Eric E. Anderson, Web Designer and Photographer
3. Be selfish with your time
“Focus on what’s important for you. Be essential and don’t spare your attention. It is a precious resource.”—Fabio Angeleri, Personal Growth Expert
4. Keep your head in the cloud
“In my quest to document different aspects of my life, I’ve loved finding bespoke top-in-class services to get different kinds of information organized and out of my brain. So my notes live in Google Keep; to-do lists in Wunderlist; recipes in Pepperplate; book collection catalogue in LibraryThing; travel tips and restaurant archive in Google Drive; closet inventory in Stylitics; passwords in 1Password; photos in Carousel; and, of course, reading list in Pocket. Having a suite of specialized cloud-based services at my fingertips makes my online environment cutting-edge, good-looking, easily searched, automatically synced, and always available.”—Simran Thadani, Pocket Marketing Manager
5. Make something for yourself
“Avoid getting caught up living a life of consumption and chasing an inspiring high without ever actually creating for yourself. I own this shirt and wear it whenever I need a reminder.”—Adam Skalecki, Crispin Porter + Bogusky Digital Designer
6. Meditate every day
“Transcendental meditation. Sitting quietly for 20 minutes twice a day has changed my life. I get more done, I’m more focused on stress falls away.”—Clayton Morris, Fox News Anchor
7. Manage expectations
“Create a simple to do list. I like to include all the goals I’d like to accomplish that day. It often helps to keep my mind focused and not drift into the entire week. In addition, for a lot of small projects (social media, emails, research) I’ll give myself time limits of 30 minutes to an hour to complete as much as I can before moving on. I’m a firm believer that if you break up large projects into smaller steps you’ll feel less stressed. You have to remember that every great accomplishment is a culmination of small tasks done with consistency. You can accomplish greatness, you just need to stop waiting for perfection and jump in.”—Tiffy Diamond, Live.Art.Love Co-Founder
8. Don’t sweat the small stuff
“If I have something important I need to focus on, I make a list and do my best to accomplish it. I’ve learned from my patient husband that stressing out just makes things worse. Stay calm, focused and give it your all. I believe the best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”—Rachel Davis, Vintage Clothing Store Owner
9. Write it down
“There is no such thing as too much coffee, always write things down—you’ll always be better off—and Evernote.”—Joe Toohey, Meet the Press Producer
“I use the Eisenhower Matrix when planning my day. I create a 2×2 matrix with each box labeled as: 1) Urgent/Important, 2) Not urgent/Important, 3) Urgent/Not important and 4) Not urgent/Not important. I only work on those items in 1 and 2.”—Phil McKinney, Innovation Author and Talk Show Host
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You’re looking at your Flipboard Analytics and your magazine stats aren’t improving. What gives? You’re an excellent curator with a killer cover, why aren’t the fans arriving in droves? Here are some ideas and smart workflows for your Flipboard Magazines, both on and off Flipboard.
- Curate with care. Are the items you flip relevant to the theme of your magazine? Are you over- or under sharing? Popular magazines have a clear point of view and good curators know where to draw the line. If you don’t know where to put an article, save it for later in a private magazine. Watch your analytics and test whether a higher or lower frequency of flips works for you.
- Be consistent. Keeping your magazines fresh helps your search results and your flips remain top of mind for your readers.
- Build community. Comment, reflip on the curation of others. Share whole magazines inside your own when they make sense or curate metazines.
- Strategic sharing. Is your magazine relevant to a trending topic? Share your magazine link on Twitter with hashtags around what’s trending. Look ahead for national holidays and plan to share your magazine when it’s appropriate.
- Share your profile. Can’t just choose one Flipboard Magazine to promote? Share all of them by showing people your profile on Flipboard. Head to Flipboard.com to grab the URL. You can also create a badge for your website.
- Round up. Try a weekly social post with the best new articles and a link to your magazine. If you can, try to tag or notify your sources.
- Utilize a newsletter. If you have a mailing list, consider adding a link to your magazine with details on your latest flips and why they matter.
- Write a blog. Build expertise by writing about the magazines you curate and why (we want to read that!).
Are you super busy? Skim these curation tips for your commute.
The key is to tinker, experiment and measure. Your point of view matters and when you hit that balance of curation and thriving community around your magazines, we want to hear about it. Tweet us @FlipboardMag!
See how others are using Flipboard and growing their readership in our MagMaker Spotlight interviews.
~jdlv is curating Heavy Rotation
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2015: The Year in Magazineshttps://vi-vn.about.flipboard.com/magmaker/2015-the-year-in-magazines
Our collection of 2015 in magazines isn’t just another year-end list; it’s a look at what the Flipboard community cares about (and flipped!) the most. This year, enthusiasts had fun with a slew of new TV shows, indulged in celebrity gossip, partied hard, and wondered at the beauty of photography. But you weren’t just here for entertainment. We saw MagMakers get serious about disasters like the Nepal earthquake, how to live longer, ways to treat each other better, and the world we’re creating for the future.
In no particular order, we flipped 50 of the most popular 2015 magazines into a single metazine. From Apple Watch fanzines to rugby and new shoe finds, there are millions of magazines on Flipboard and this is just a small sampling of what you’ve created. We can’t be more thrilled to see a wide spectrum of so many unique and creative magazines with personal touches. It’s been so fun picking your brains about why you flip the way you do in our Spotlight interview series on the MagMaker blog.
Thank you for spending your time with us on Flipboard. Here’s to 2016 and helping you…be you!
What else mattered to you this year? Share a magazine you made in 2015 with us by tweeting the link to @Flipboard on Twitter. Be sure to also check out #MagsWeLove, a collection of our team’s favorite magazines.
~jdlv is reading The Year in Review
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